This invention relates to a tool which provides assistance in handling integrated circuits to facilitate their insertion on and extraction from a circuit board.
The tools which are presently available for use in inserting and extracting integrated circuits have not been entirely satisfactory in all respects. Characteristically, such tools include a pair of jaws which are hingedly connected and urged together by a spring. The jaws act to grip opposite sides of an integrated circuit and thus assist in installing and removing it. Whoever, since the pins are normally located along the sides of the IC, gripping on the sides often results in engagement of the jaws with the frail pins, thereby bending or otherwise damaging them. Further, the jaws are not able to clear the sides of the sockets on all circuit boards, and in some cases they contact adjacent components. Consequently, such devices are not suitable for use with all types of integrated circuits and circuit boards.
Other types of tools are suitable to serve either as installing devices or extracting devices, but not both. Moreover, these tools are typically capable of use with integrated circuits of only one size, and separate tools must therefore be provided for each size integrated circuit. The prior art devices also have a tendency to bend, chip, or otherwise damage the IC since the forces applied to it are localized rather than equally distributed. A further problem has resulted from the tendency of existing tools to lift one side or end of the IC before the other, thereby bending the unreleased pins. This latter problem is particularly acute for integrated circuits having a large number of pins.
It is the primary object of the present invention to provide an improved tool which may be used to quickly and easily insert and extract integrated circuits.
More specifically, it is an object of the invention to provide an insertion and extraction tool which is applied to the ends of the integrated circuit in order to avoid contact with the pins.
Another object of the invention is to provide a tool having a configuration and arrangement to alternately handle integrated circuits of different sizes.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a tool of the character described having small gripping lugs which are able to accommodate virtually all sockets and which are able to clear adjacent components on the circuit board.
A further object of the invention is to provide a tool of the character described which includes means for spreading the insertion and extraction forces substantially equally over the integrated circuit to which it is applied.
An additional object of the invention is to provide a tool of the character described which is capable of inserting and removing integrated circuits without bending the pins or causing other damage.
A still further object of the invention is to provide a tool of the character described which is constructed simply and economically and which is readily adaptable to integrated circuits of all sizes and numbers of pins.
Other and further objects of the invention, together with the features of novelty appurtenant thereto, will appear in the course of the following description.